The responses in a survey of NBA general managers indicate that Miami Heat leader Erik Spoelstra remains the gold standard of head coaches in the league.
Although Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault finished in a not-so-distant second place in the running for the best head coach with 34 percent of the vote, Spoelstra was still the top vote-getter at 52 percent, per the NBA.com survey.
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue rounded out the top three, while Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle and Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse were the other coaches to receive votes.
Spoelstra also received a lot of recognition from general managers in another important topic related to coaching. On the subject of which head coach is the best manager/motivator of people, Spoelstra edged out every other coach with 28 percent of the vote. He just barely beat Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, who totaled 24 percent of the vote.
The recognition for Spoelstra comes on the same day the NBA world has learned that he will be the next head coach of the Team USA men’s basketball team.
BREAKING: Erik Spoelstra is expected to become the new head coach of the U.S. men's national team, per @ShamsCharania 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hh4BX770iY
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCom) October 9, 2025
For as long as Spoelstra has been patrolling the sidelines for Miami, the team has been consistently competitive in the Eastern Conference. He started out in the position all the way back in the 2008-09 season. The Heat have missed the playoffs just three times since he’s held the coaching reins.
Amazingly, Miami has reached the NBA Finals more times than it has missed the playoffs under Spoelstra’s leadership. The Heat have appeared in six championship series with him at the helm and won consecutive titles in 2012 and 2013.
Miami’s most recent appearance on the league’s biggest stage came back in 2023, when the team bowed out to the Denver Nuggets in a gentleman’s sweep in the championship series. But who knows if the team would have even made it as far as it did in the playoffs without Spoelstra’s leadership, as Miami was just the No. 8 seed in the East.
Spoelstra will try to help the Heat exceed expectations once again in the 2025-26 season. Miami isn’t widely perceived as one of the better teams in the East ahead of the coming season, but in a weakened conference, the team has an opportunity to make some noise.
So long as Spoelstra remains the Heat’s head coach, it’s hard to believe they will ever be bottom-feeders in the East.